Pattern wheel and knitting machine combination



Jan. 29, 1963 M. PHlLlP 3,075,372

PATTERN WHEEL AND KNITTING MACHINE COMBINATION Filed March 17, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

(Start Of Isl Rev) Of Needle Cyl.

/ Pattern Wheel S Slot Spacing 8 J= Number Of Slots In Each Class Needle Cylinder N=Total Number Of Needles I WS=PuHern Wheel Slot Spcicinq NS=Needle Spoeinq= Number Of Classes X WS L= Number Of Clossesx ws, Pm; o M n I One WS,Two WS, Or Three WS.

a INVENTOR Morris Philip M 5M4, has;

fl i l 5 l/BATTORNEYS M. PHILIP Jan. 29, 1963 PATTERN WHEEL AND KNITTING MACHINE COMBINATION Filed March 17, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 30 232 6 m Em 8 22m 23 EN 6 2w 6 3 L3 29 2 6 m 5G 502cm 6 05:32am

2 .52 5 0m 5 22m on m 25 6 :2 23 E 6 2m M. PHILIP Jan. 29, 1963 PATTERN WHEEL AND KNITTING MACHINE COMBINATION Filed March 1'7, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 EuQE A 45 6 26 v m how-:30 23oz A 4322 2 *0 v m 3- *0 t m QQE ' INVENTOR. BY Morris Philip E -JTqbb f/ls ATTORNEYS-'1 I f ,lzwma kuatt,

M. PHILIP Jan. 29, 1963 PATTERN WHEEL AND KNITTING MACHINE COMBINATION 4 sheets-sheet 4 Filed March 17, 1958 H/s ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,075,372 PATTERN WHEEL AND KNITTING MACHINE COMEINATHON Morris Philip, New York, NY. (26 Bruckner Blvd, Esronx, N335.) Filed Mar. 1'7, 1%"8, Ser. No. 721,73tl Claims. (Cl. 66--5d) This invention relates to circular knitting machines and more particularly to those employing a pattern or design Wheel at each feed or at most of the feeds. In knitting machines of this kind the pattern wheel is mounted on the cam support, conventionally referred to as the cam ring, and usually on the cam block, and is provided with teeth about its periphery having spaced cuts or slots between them. The butts of the needles of the needle cylinder or dial are received within the slots and impart rotation to the pattern wheel after the manner of a spur gear.

Inserts or jacks are placed in certain of the slots in the pattern Wheel and these inserts, together with the conventional cams, determine the height to which the various needles are raised, some being raised to the knitting level, and others left at the tuck level or the welt level, or otherwise, as required by the pattern to be knitted.

Throughout this specification it will be understood that whenever the rotation, or revolution, of the knitting machine, or of the needle cylinder or dial, is referred to, it is intended to mean relative rotation between the cam support, carrying the cams and pattern or design wheels, and the needle support, i.e. the needle cylinder or dial. That is to say, the needle cylinder or dial, or both, may rotate, the cam support being stationary, or the cam support carrying cams and the pattern wheels may rotate, the needle cylinder or dial, or both, remaining stationary.

With knitting machines as heretofore constructed employing pattern or design wheels, the height of the pattern, that is to say, a pattern that runs horizontally in line, is determined by the number of yarn feeds, the pattern being completed by one revolution of the knitting machine. For example, given a machine having 24 feeds, the maximum height of the pattern will be 24 stitches high, and the width of the pattern will be as selected on the pattern wheel. Because the height of the pattern is limited by the number of the yarn feeds which can be placed on the machine, the size of the pattern is definitely limited.

It is the primary object of my present invention to pro vide a knitting machine which is so constructed that it will knit a pattern many times larger than can be produced on the conventional knitting machine.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a knitting machine which will knit patterns of greatly increased size over and over again without distortion of the pattern, but: with the patterns repeated in alignment with one anot er.

In carrying out my invention I employ a pattern or design wheel, that is, a trick wheel, having slots uniformly spaced throughout its periphery. A pattern wheel is provided at each feed, if desired, and mounted adjacent the needle cylinder or dial, or both, to be rotated by engagement of the needle butts with the pattern wheel slots. The pattern Wheel may be mounted for rotation on an Patented Jam. 29?, 39%3 oblique axis or on an axis which is parallel to that of the cylinder or dial.

In accordance with my invention the pattern wheel slots are divided into a plurality of classes or types, each consisting of the slots which are spaced apart corresponding to the number of classes, and each of these classes of slots may have inserts or jacks placed in them for the purpose of producing a predetermined knitting pattern. While the pattern wheel or trick wheel has uniformly spaced slots throughout its periphery, from the operational standpoint the continuous series of slots of this wheel is divided into at least two classes or types and these are distinguished from one another or characterized by having different arrangements of inserts or jacks placed in them according to the particular pattern which is to be knitted. Thus, assuming that the series of trick wheel slots is divided into only two classes, one of these classes would consist of the alternate slots and the other would consist of the intermediate slots. The alternate slots Would have jacks arranged in them according to a predetermined pat tern and thus constitute a class having certain physical characteristics. The intermediate slots would have jacks arranged according to a different predetermined pattern and thus constitute another class having certain other physical characteristics. In like manner the continuous series of slots of the trick wheel may be divided into three such classes, four such classes or any desired number.

My present invention includes arranging the mutual spacing of the operatively adjacent slots of the trick wheel (that is, the slots which are engaged by mutually adjacent needle butts) as an aliquot part of the ordinary mutual spacing of the needles so that during a rotation of the knitting machine the ordinarily spaced needle butts engage only slots of the trick wheel which are spaced from one another by such aliquot part, and skip the others. All of the needles on the needle support except one pair of mutually adjacent needles are ordinarily spaced in the sense in which this term is used above, and this one pair are so extraordinarily spaced as to cause the needle butts during each rotation of the knitting machine to engage pattern wheel slots which were skipped during the last preceding rotation and to skip those that were engaged by the butts during such last preceding rotation. In other Words at each rotation of the knitting machine the needles are caused to progress from one class of pattern or trick wheel slots to a diiferent class of pattern wheel slots.

The needles of the cylinder or dial are spaced apart a distance equal to a multiple of the spacing of the slots in the pattern wheel and to correspond with the mutual spacing of the slots in one of these classes and, therefore, the needle spacing is always greater than the pattern wheel or trick wheel slot spacing. Thus, for example, and as mentioned above the slots of the pattern wheel might be divided into two classes, one of which would consist of the alternate slots and the other class would consist of the intermediate slots, and in that case the spacing of the needles on the cylinder or dial would be twice the spacing of the pattern wheel slots.

As another example, the slots of the pattern wheel might be divided into three classes, one of the classes consisting of every third slot, or the pattern Wheel slots might be divided into four, five, six, seven classes, or more, with the slots of each class consisting of every fourth slot, every fifth slot, every sixth slot, every seventh slot, and so on. The spacing of the needles on the needle cylinder or dial would correspond to the spacing of three pattern wheel slots, four pattern wheel slots, and so on, that it, it would correspond to the number of slot classes employed. The number of slots per inch around the periphery of the pattern wheel will always be greater than the number of needles per inch on the. cylinder or dial.

As previously indicated, my present invention provides for causing the needles of the cylinder or dial, or both, at each revolution of the knitting machine to progress with respect to the slots of the pattern wheel in such a way that at each revolution the needle butts will engage the slots of a different class of the pattern wheel slots. This progression is accomplished by providing at one point on the needle cylinder br dial the preyidusly mentioned special, or extraordinary, spacing between two adjacent needles, which is dilferent from the otherwise uniform spacing of the remainder of the needles around the cylinder or dial. 'Ihisfdifference in spacing provides at this one point a land of difierent width from the lands between the remaining needles. Such difference in spacing or difference in land width is equal to at least one slot spacing of the slots of the design or trick wheel. Thus, at this one point the spacing of the needles can be either at least one slot spacing greater, or at least one slot spacing less than the spacing of the remainder of the needles of the cylinder or dial. At each revolution of the knit-ting machine, the needles will progress to a different class of pattern wheel slots, that is, the needles will engage slots that were skipped during the previous rotation and skip those that were engaged during the last preceding rotation.

Actually the width of this special land or difierence in needlespacing, which may be called the progressing or progression point, is equal to the number of classes of slots on the pattern wheel times the slot spacing and either plus or minus one slot spacing, two slot spacings, or three slot spacings, depending upon the number of classes of slots employed. When using any number of classes of pattern wheel slots from one to four, the Width of the special land can be plus or minus one pattern wheel slot, whereas when five classes are employed, it can be plus or minus one or two pattern wheel slots, and when seven banks are employed, it may be plus or minus one, two or three pattern wheel slots. I h The increase of the size of the pattern which is afforded by the invention may be illustrated as follows: If we assume that the machine has twenty-four feeds, one revolution of the cylinder or dial will knit a pattern which is a maximum of twenty-four stitches in height, the width of the pattern depending upon the way the pattern wheels are set up. Now assuming that this machine is constructed according to the invention, if the pattern wheels have two classes of slots, inasmuch as each class of slots functions during a given revolution of the needle cylinder or dial, a pattern will be created which is twice the height of that produced on the conventional machine, that is, forty-eight stitches or courses high instead of twenty-four. If the machine is set up with three classes of pattern wheel slots, the pattern will be seventy-two stitches high; if with five classes the pattern will be one hundred and twenty stitches high, and if set with 'seven classes of slots the pattern will be one hundred and sixtyeight stitches high.

Further, in accordance with the invention, patterns of such increased size can be knitted with the successive patterns in alignment with one another, that is, vertically one over'the other, as well as in diagonal or staggered relationship. This is accomplished by a'special selection of the number of slots in each pattern wheel class with'respect to the number of needles on'the needle cylinder 'or dial.

Let 'us'as'surn'e that the total number of needles on the needle'cylinder or dial is represented by the letter Nand =a whole number at the end of each complete revolution of the knitting machine the needles will progress, but the patterns will be knitted in a diagonal arrangement.

If, on the other hand, it is desired to have the patterns knitted in alignment with one another so that they are repeated vertically one over the other in the knitted fabric, the number of slots in each class of the pattern Wheel slots and the number of needles of the cylinder or dial are so chosen that at each revolution of the needle cylinder or dial the pattern wheel will rotate a whole number of times plus a fraction and this fraction will be 7r the number of classes of slots Thus, for a machine set up with two classes of slots in the pattern wheel the number of revolutions of the pattern wheel for a single revolution of the needle cylinder might be 20 /2, whereas for a machine set up with three classes of slots in the pattern wheel the number of revolutions of the pattern wheel for each revolution of the knitting machine might be 21%. Similarly, if the machine is set up with four classes of slots the fraction wouldbe /2.

With this arrangement twice the number of needles (the number of needles which passes a pattern wheel during two revolutions of the knitting machine) divided by the number of pattern wheel slots in each class is equal to a whole number. Thus the equation is j. =a whole number With a machine so set up, for example, that the pattern wheel has three slots per needle, at the first revolution of the cylinder or dial the slots of the first class will contact the needles. During the second revolution of the needle cylinder the slots of class number two will engage the needles, and during the third revolution the third class of slots will-contact the needles, whereas, at the beginning of the fourth revolution of the needle cylinder the first class of slots will again contact the needles.

Stating it somewhat differently: The number of slots in each class of slots of the pattern wheel is to be divided into the product of the number of cylinder or dial needles multiplied by the number of classes of slots in the pattern Wheel. To complete one design the machine rotates the pattern Wheel around the cylinder or dial as many times as the number of classes of slots in the pattern wheel.

If two classes of slots are chosen the pattern wheel will revolve a chosen number of times plus /2 of the pattern wheel by the time it completes one revolution around the cylinder or dial. On the second revolution it will repeat the same number of turns plus the second half bringing it back to the same starting point for the third revolution as for the first.

If the cylinder or dial has 1004 needles plus an extra, or shift, spacing equaling /2 the spacing of the other needles, this would make l004 /2 needle spacings in the cylinder or dial. If the pattern wheel has forty-nine slots in each of the two banks it has a total of ninety-eight slots. The ninety-eight slots are so spaced that there would be two slots in each pattern wheel for each needle in the cylinder or dial except in the spot where progression takes place. At that point the cylinder needle spacing would correspond with either one or three slots of the pattern wheel. This would cause the needles to progress from one class of slots to the other. Forty-nine slots in each class revolving fo'rty one times around the cylinder in-two revolution's'of the knitting machine add'up'to 2009 needles for the two revolutions, corresponding to lO04 /2 needle spacings in the cylinder or dial.

it three classes of slots are chosen for the pattern wheel, after completing one revolution around the cylinder or dial the pattern wheel will turn a chosen number of times plus /3 of the wheel. On the second turn around the cylinder or dial, it will turn the same number of times plus the second third of the wheel. On the third revolution around the cylinder or dial the pattern wheel will once more turn the same number of times plus the third 3rd bringing it back to the same starting point for the fourth revolution as for the first.

Assuming the cylinder or dial has 981 needles plus an extra spacing equaling one-third of the spacing of the other needles this would make 981 /3 needle spacings in the cylinder or dial. The pattern wheel having sixty-four slots in each class of slots, it would have a total of 192 slots so spaced that there would be three slots in the pattern wheel for each needle in the cylinder or dial except at the point on the cylinder or dial where the needles progress. At that point the needle spacing would correspond with either 1, 2, 4 or 5 slots of the pattern wheel. This would cause the needles to progress from class to class. If in the shifting space the difference is one or four, the needles will shift from class one to class two, from two to three and then again from class three to class one. But if the difference is two or five spacings, then the needles will progress from class one to class three, from three to two and then from class two to class one, giving the same result. Sixty-four slots in each class rotating around the cylinder or dial 46 times in three revolutions of the machine will represent 2944 needles and dividing this by three will make 981 /3 needles in the cylinder or represented by one revolution.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings. In these drawings:

FlG. l is a view in vertical central section of a portion of a needle cylinder and showing in perspective a pattern wheel at one of the yarn feeds;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a needle cylinder and pattern wheel having two classes of slots showing the relation of the needle spacing and the pattern wheel slot spacing, the par-ts being shown at the commencement of the first revolution of the needle cylinder.

FIGS. 3 and 3a are similar diagrammatic views showing, respectively, the positions at the start of the second and third revolutions of the needle cylinder, where the number of needles is evenly divisible by the number of slots in each class;

FIGS. 4 and 4a are similar views where the number of needles and pattern wheel slots are so chosen that twice the number of needles is evenly divisible by the number of slots in each class;

FIGS. 5-7 are views somewhat similar to FIGS. 2-411, but showing pattern wheels having different numbers of classes of slots;

H6. 5 shows a pattern wheel for three classes of slots and with a wide land at the shift point;

PEG. 5a shows the same three-class arrangement but with a narrow land at the progression point;

FIG. 6 shows a pattern wheel arrangement having five classes of slots; and

FIG. 7 shows a pattern wheel having seven classes oi slots.

In the following description it will be understood that the pattern wheels may be considered as operating with needles which are mounted either in a needle cylinder or in a dial, or in both. The invention will be described, however, in connection with a machine having the needles mounted in a cylinder.

In FIGS. 2-7, for the sake of clarity because of the smallness and quantity of the needles and slots, the areas of the cylinder and pattern wheel where needles and slots have been shown are very greatly magnified.

Referring'no-w to FIG. 1, a conventional needle cylinderis indicated at 1, in the slots or grooves of which needles 2 are located having outwardly projecting butts 3 arranged to be engaged by the usual cams such as the stitch cam 4- and the needle raising and draw-down cams (not shown). Conventional sinkers are indicated at 5, these sinkcrs being supported in a bed 6 mounted on the needle cylinder. The sinkers are actuated by cams on the sinker ring 7. Both the sinkers and their cams may be omitted, if desired.

The design or pattern wheel 8 rotates freely on a shaft 9 shown as being mounted in oblique position on a block 10 which may also mountthe cams and which, in turn, is carried by the cam ring or support 11. The pattern wheel is of conventional construction and includes a central disk from which project a series of uniformly spaced teeth having between them equally spaced slots 12 extending obliquely from edge to edge of the wheel. The needle butts 3 project into these slots torotate the pattern wheel in the customary manner; cylinder 1 may rotate, the cam ring 11 being stationary, or vice versa.

Inserts or jacks 13 are placed in certain of the slots 12 for the purpose of engaging the needle butts to raise the needles selectively. The needle butts engaging slots which contain inserts 13 are raised to the knitting position, whereas the needle butts entering slots without inserts are left either at the tuck lever or welt level depending upon the height of the raising cam (not shown) which leaves the needle at the welt position, or the draw-down cam (also not shown) which leaves the needle at the tuck level. Thus, by omitting inserts from the slots the level of the needle passing the pattern wheel is determined by the raising or draw-down cam at that particular feed, whereas by placing an insert in any given slot in the pattern wheel, the needle in passing the pattern wheel is raised to the knitting position.

FIG. 2 of the drawings shows the general relationship between the needle spacing and pattern wheel slot spacing, and the division of the pattern wheel slots into two classes A and B. Although these slots in the actual pat tern wheel are of equal depth, for clarity of illustration, one class of slots is shown as shallower than the other. Thus, the slots of A classxare shown as the short or shallow slots, Whereas the second or B class are shown as being deeper. Each of these classes contains the same number of uniformly spaced slots extending around the periphery of the pattern wheel, the slots of class A being alternately spaced, Whereas B class consists of the slots which are intermediate the slots of class A. The spacing of adjacent slots from one another is uniform and may be designated as WS.

FIGS. 2 to 4a show knitting machines set up with pattern wheels having two classes of slots, and consequently, the needle spacing is NS=2WS, that is, twice the pattern wheel slot spacing. Also the width of the land L is 2WS+1WS=3WS. It will be understood that the width of land L could also be 2WS -1WS=1WS or /2 the needle spacing instead of 1 /2 times the needle spacing, as shown.

FIG. 2 shows the first needle in engagement with the first slot of class A, and the second needle about to enter the second slot of the class A. In other words, FIG. 2 shows the relationship of the needle cylinder and pattern wheel at the beginning of the first revolution of the needle cylinder.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 3a these figures illustrate a pattern wheel and needle cylinder set up to knit patterns which will be diagonally arranged, that is, the pattern produced by the pattern wheel will be repeated lengthwise of the knitted fabric, but the successive patterns will not be in line with one another. The quotient of the number of needles N divided by the number of pattern wheel slots is awhole number. As shown the pattern wheel has The needle In other words the pattern wheel will rotate exactly twenty times during each complete passage of the cylinder needles. FIG. 3 shows'needle No. 1000 entering the last slot of the class A, namely, slot A-50. Rotation is in the direction of the arrows and needle No.- 1 is about to enter the first slotof B class, namely, slot B-l, so that on the second revolution of the needle cylinder the needles will be controlled by the pattern arrangement produced by the jacks in the B class of slots.

FIG. 3a shows the situation at the startof the third revolution of the needle cylinder. Needle No. 1000' is in engagement with the last slot of B class, namely, slot 3-50, and needle No. 1 is about to enter the second slot of the class A, namely, slot- A-Z, so that the pattern control has; shifted back to class A, but the third revolution starts with No. 1 needle not in the first slot of class A, but in the second slot. Consequently, the patterns are not repeated in alignment, but in diagonal or staggered ar rangement and will not repeat vertically until there have been 1100 revolutions of the needle cylinder.

In FIGS. 4 and 4a the pattern wheel and needle cylinder arej set-up to knit the patterns successively in vertical alignment with one another. The condition which must be satisfied is expressed in the equation =a Whole number that is, the pattern wheel makes an even number of revolutions for each two revolutions of the needle cylinder. Expressing this in a different way, for one revolution of the needle cylinder the pattern wheel makes a whole number of revolutions plus a fraction which is number of classes In this case the pattern wheel has two classes of fortynine slots each and the needle cylinder has 1004 needles. Each complete revolution of the needle cylinder there fore represents 1004 needles plus /2 a needle space, and for two revolutions this amounts to 2009. This figure divided by forty-nine gives a quotient of forty-one turns of the pattern wheel for each two revolutions of the needle cylinder, or 20 /2 turns of the pattern wheel for each revolution of the needle cylinder.

FIG. 4 shows the relation of pattern wheel and needle cylinder at the start of the first revolution, needle No. 1 being in engagement with slot A-1. In FIG. 4a the dot and dash position of the pattern wheel 8 shows the engagement of needle No. 981 with slot A-l, the pattern wheel having made twenty turns at this point. As the rotation of the machine continues, the pattern wheel will make an additional one-half turn when the full revolution of the needle cylinder is completed except for passing the progression point. Needle No. 1100 is then engaged by slot A-24. This figure shows a shift of the needles from class A to B class. Needle No. l is engaged by slot B-25 starting the second revolution so that during the second revolution of the needle cylinder the needles are controlled according to the pattern of the B class of slots. Slot A-24 is followed by slot B-24, and B-24 is followed by slot A-25, and A-25 by B-25, which is the new starting point for the second revolution (exactly onehalf of the, pattern wheel).

At the start of the. third revolution of the needle cylinder, needle No. 1 will shift back into the first slot of the A class, namely, slot A-1. Consequently, at each two revolutions of the needle cylinder the pattern control starts with the class A of the pattern wheel slots, and the patterns are, therefore, knitted in alignment with one another and vertically one above the other.

New referring to FIG. 5, the pattern wheel 8a is provided with three classes of slots, A, B and C, and the needle cylinder Ia may have any desired and suitable number of needles. The width of the shift point land L isdetermined by theequation In FIG. 5, the land L is a wide land, that is it is equal to 4W8, or the width of four pattern wheel spaces. The needle spacing corresponds with the spacing of the slots of one of the three groups and, therefore, the needle spacing is inasmuch as two adjacent slots in any one of the three classes are spaced apart from each other by 3W3.

The relation of the number of' slots in each class to the number of needles in the needle cylinder, when it is desired to produce patterns in alignment with each other, will be so chosen that during one revolution of the needle cylinder the pattern wheel will make any chosen number of complete revolutions plus one-third of one revolution, that is to say, plus a fraction which is indicated by number of classes Consequently, the cylinder 1a might have a total of 981 /3 needles, that is, 981 needles plus a space following the last needle which is greater than the spacing of the rest of the needles. The number of pattern wheel slots in each of the classes A, B and C would be 64 so that the pattern wheel 8a would have a total of 192 slots.

With a machine set up in this manner, during the first revolutions of the needle cylinder In, its needles will contact and be controlled by the slots of class A of the pattern wheel. At the start of the second revolution the needles will shift to B class and during that revolution will be controlled by this class. Similarly, at the start of the third revolution of the needle cylinder, the needles will shift to class C and during that revolution will be controlled by the slots of this class. Then at the start of the fourth revolution of needle cylinder 1a, the needles will shift back to class A, so that the repetition of the pattern will be commenced.

In FIG. 5a the same arrangement of three classes A, B and C of pattern wheel slots is shown. Also the needle spacing NS is the same as in FIG. 5. The only difference between these two figures is that the shift point or land L is narrower and, instead of having a width of 4W8, as in FIG. 5, it has a width of 2WS. That is to say, the width of the wide land is determined by the equation The operation of a machine set up according to FIG. 5a will be identical with that of one set up according to FIG. 5. The needles will shift from class to class at the start of each of the second and third revolutions of the needle cylinder, and then back to class A at the start of the fourth revolution.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a pattern wheel 8b having five classes of slots, A, B, C, D and E, and a needle cylinder 1b in which the needle spacing NS, as before, is equal to the spacing between the same slots in any of the classes or, in other words, is equal to SWS, the spacing of the slots in the pattern wheel. The width of the wide land L is determined according to the equation The operation of the machine would be the same if the width of the land were determined by the equation With a machine set up according to FIG. 6 the cylinder 1b will make five revolutions, with the needle shifting from class to class at the start of each revolution, and then at the sixth revolution of the needle cylinder the needles will shift back to class A, and the repetition of of the pattern will commence.

FIG. 7 shows a pattern wheel 8c having seven classes of pattern wheel slots indicated by A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The needle cylinder 10 is provided with a suitable number of needles having a spacing determined by the equation NS=number of classesX WS=7WS The width of the land L is determined by equation L=7WS3WS=4WS This is, therefore, a narrow land. A wide land would be determined by the equation It will be understood furthermore that the width of this land for a pattern wheel having seven classes of slots could be made according to the equation L=7WSiX where X is equal to lWS, ZWS or 3W8 With a machine set up as shown in FIG. 7 and as just described, the needles of the needle cylinder 10 will shift from class to class at the start of seven successive revolutions, and at the start of the eighth revolution will again enter the slots of class A, and the repetition of the pattern will be commenced.

With knitting machines set up with a considerable number of classes of slots, as shown in FIGS. 7, it will be understood that the number of slots per inch on the pattern wheel will be considerably greater than the number of needles per inch on the needle cylinder.

I have illustrated my invention in connection with a number of modified forms of needle cylinders and pattern wheels. It will be understood, however, that still other arrangements of the cylinder and pattern wheel may be employed without departing from the scope of my invention which is set forth in the appended claims. In these claim the term cylinder or needle cylinder is intended to include a dial having needles mounted therein in the conventional manner.

I claim:

1. A knitting machine having a relatively rotatable needle cylinder and cam support, a pattern wheel mounted on said support for rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, said pattern wheel having equally spaced slots about its periphery for engagement by the needle butts to drive said wheel, the needles of said cylinder being spaced a distance equal to a multiple of the distance between the slots, and means for causing the needles on successive revolutions of the cylinder to engage pattern wheel slots skipped during the last preceding revolution.

2. In a knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder with axially slidable knitting needles, a cam support, a butt associated wtih each said needle for engagement with cams on said support for operatively sliding said needle as a consequence of relative rotation of said cylinder and cam support, a trick Wheel mounted on said cam support for relative rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, said wheel having slots equally spaced about it periphery for the reception and holding of inserts engageable with said butts to selectively position said needles for engagement of their butts with actuating surfaces of said earns, the mutual spacing of the operatively adjacent slots of the trick wheel being an aliquot part of the ordinary mutual spacing of the needles, so that during a rotation of said wheel the ordinarily spaced butts engage only slots of the trick wheel which are spaced from one another by the said aliquot part, and skip the others, all of said needles but one pair of mutually adjacent needles being thus ordinarily spaced, and said one pair being so extraordinarily spaced as to cause the butts during each rotation of the needle cylinder, to engage trick wheel slots skipped during the last preceding rotation of the needle cylinder and to skip those engaged by butts during the said last preceding rotation.

3. In a knitting machine, a needle cylinder with needles axially slidable in slots therein, and the cylinder having lands between the slots, a cam support, a butt associated with each said needle for engagement with cams on said support for operatively sliding said needle as a consequence of relative rotation of said needle cylinder and cam support, a trick wheel mounted on said cam support for relative rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, said wheel having slots equally spaced about its periphery which are engaged by the needle butts to drive the wheel, said slots also receiving and holding inserts engageable with said butts to selectively position said needles for engagement of their butts with actuating surfaces of said cams, the lands between the slots of the said cylinder being of uniform width except at one point having a special land of sufficiently difierent width to cause the needles to progress as they pass said land and engage different slots of the trick wheel during the next subsequent revolution of said needle cylinder.

4. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 3 wherein the width of said special land is greater than the width of the lands between all other needles by at least the width of one trick wheel slot spacing.

5. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 3 wherein the width of said special land is less than the width of the lands between all other needles by at least the width of one trick wheel slot spacing.

6. In a knitting machine having a relatively rotatable needle cylinder and cam support, needles mounted to slide in grooves in the cylinder, a trick wheel having slots equally spaced about its periphery for receiving pattern-controlling jacks, the wheel being mounted on said support for rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, the trick wheel slots being engaged by the needle butts to drive the wheel, the slots being arranged in a selected number of classes, each class of slots being characterized by the jack arrangement thereof, the slots of each class being spaced apart corresponding to the number of said classes, the jack arrangement of the slot classes providing a predetermined knitting pattern, the cylinder having its needles spaced to correspond with the mutual spacing of the slots of one of the slot classes except at one position, and the spacing of the needles at this position being such that on successive revolutions of the cylinder the needles are caused to engage with different classes of the trick wheel slots, engaging slots skipped during the last preceding rotation of the needle cylinder and skipping those engaged during the last preceding rotation.

7. A knitting machine having a relatively rotatable needle cylinder and cam support, needles mounted to slide in grooves in the cylinder, a trick wheel having slots equally spaced about its periphery for receiving pattern-controlling jacks, the wheel being mounted on said support for rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, the trick wheel slots being engaged by the needle butts to drive the wheel, the slots being arranged in a selected number of classes, each class of slots being characterized by the jack arrangement thereof, the slots of each class being spaced apart corresponding to the number of said classes, and the jack arrangement of the slot classes providing a predetermined knitting pattern, said machine being characterized by having the spacing of the needles greater than the spacing of the trick wheel slots.

8. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein the spacing of the needles on the needle cylinder is at least twice the spacing between adjacent slots of the trick Wheel.

9. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein the spacing of the needles on the needle cylinder is equal to the number of groups of slots in the trick wheel multi plied by the trick wheel slot spacing.

10. In a knitting machine having a relatively rotatable needle cylinder and cam support, needles mounted to slide in grooves in the cylinder, a trick wheel having slots equally spaced about its periphery for receiving pattern-controlling jacks, the wheel being mounted on said support for rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, the trick wheel slots being engaged by the needle butts to drive the wheel, the

amaara slots being arranged in a selected number of classes, each class of slots being characterized by the jack arrangement thereof, the slots of each class being spaced apart corresponding to the number of said classes, and the jack arrangement of the slot classes providing a predetermined knitting pattern, said machine being characterized by having the needles on the cylinder spaced to correspond with the mutual spacing of the slots of one of the classes except that at one point the adjacent needles have a different spacing, the extent of such difference being equal to at least the slot spacing of the trick wheel.

11. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 10 wherein the trick wheel is arranged so that for each revolution of the needle cylinder the trick wheel turns a Whole number of revolutions plus a fraction represented by 1 number of classes of slots 12. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 10, wherein at said one point on the needle cylinder the difference in spacing between adjacent needles is greater than the spacing of the remaining needles by at least one slot spacing of the trick wheel.

13. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 10 where'- in at said one point on the needle cylinder the difference in spacing between adjacent needles is less than the spacing of the remaining needles by at least one slot spacing of the trick wheel.

14. A knitting machine having a relatively rotatable needle cylinder and cam support, needles mounted to slide in grooves in the cyinder, a trick wheel having slots equally spaced about its periphery for receiving pattern-controlling jack-s, the wheel being mounted on said support for rotation adjacent said needle cylinder, the trick wheel slots being engaged by thev needle butts to drive the wheel, the slots. being arranged in a selected number of classes, each class of slots being characterized by the jack arrangement thereof, the slots of each class being spaced apart corresponding to the number of said classes, and the jack. arrangement of the slot classes providing a predetermined knitting pattern, said machine being characterized by having the needles on the. cylinder spaced to correspond with the mutual spacing of the slots of (meat the slot classes except that at one point the adjacent needles have a different spacing, the extent of such difference being equal to the number of slot classes-multiplied by the trick wheel slot spacing plus or minus atv least one slot spacing.

15. As an element for use in a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder having needle grooves in the periphery thereof spaced apart by lands, saidl lands being of uniform width except for one land the width of which is not an even multiple of said uniform: Width but is an integral ratio to said uniform width.

References titted in the file of. this patent. UNITED STATES PATENTS 456,496 McMichael July 21, 1891 1,925,449 Levin Sept. 5, 1933 2,000,837 Gorrnan. et a1. May 7, 1935 2,030,815 Feineman Feb. 11, 1936 2,039,725 Lawson et a1 May 5, 1936 2,055,599 Agulnek Sept. 29, 1936 2,124,304 Lombardi July 19, 1938 2,127,224 Lombardi Aug. 16, 1938 2,140,078 Horrocks et a1. Dec. 13, 1938 2,269,288- Saftlas et al. Jan. 6, 1942 2,271,302 Moses Ian. 27, 1942 2,696,720 Miller Dec. 14, 1954 

1. A KNITTING MACHINE HAVING A RELATIVELY ROTATABLE NEEDLE CYLINDER AND CAM SUPPORT, A PATTERN WHEEL MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT FOR ROTATION ADJACENT SAID NEEDLE CYLINDER, SAID PATTERN WHEEL HAVING EQUALLY SPACED SLOTS ABOUT ITS PERIPHERY FOR ENGAGEMENT BY THE NEEDLE BUTTS TO DRIVE SAID WHEEL, THE NEEDLES OF SAID CYLINDER BEING SPACED A DISTANCE EQUAL TO A MULTIPLE OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SLOTS, AND MEANS FOR CAUSING THE NEEDLES ON SUCCESSIVE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CYLINDER TO ENGAGE PATTERN WHEEL SLOTS SKIPPED DURING THE LAST PRECEDING REVOLUTION. 